Of wedding anniversaries & ‘bridezillas’

I’m a CPA by profession and yes, today is the official deadline filing the Annual ITR and 1st Quarter tax return. But since it’s a Sunday, then it shall fall on the next working day, in this case, tomorrow, April 16. So as a concerned Filipino citizen, I hope you have filed yours to avoid the rush (I did already, thank you).

On this day 7 years ago, my husband Brian and I swore to be together for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part. It was a bright and sunny morning and I was confident everything would go well. The color-coding scheme was lifted on Saturdays. It would be easier for everyone to move around.

I stayed at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel and woke up early to prepare. Our photographer Nelson Villarica came and took some shots of my accessories and me. Our wedding Mass was 10am at the Chapel in Valle Verde 5 in Pasig City. Diyosa, Deedee’s daughter sang our wedding songs, and our officiating priest was Fr. Johnny Go, S.J. of Xavier School. Fr. Johnny and Brian are good friends since his college days in the Ateneo. I am very happy that he is a personal friend, and having documented his homily to us, he e-mailed it to me entitled “Taking the Plunge”.

We held our lunch reception at the Social Hall of Wack Wack Village. Josiah Catering catered it and our beautiful Mac(intosh) inspired wedding cake was created by Brian’s cousins Penk and Shen of Pastry Bin. We wanted a small, and intimate wedding had about 150 people in attendance. We headed back to Edsa Shang for our late afternoon pictorial.

After the session, we dressed casually and felt hungry. We decided to go to the mall and eat in Cibo. While we were eating, the reality of weddings and engagements dawned on me. Coming into this commitment in the right frame of mind—wherein it is better to prepare for the married life than the wedding-I was ready to get back to reality in a snap. While the ceremony and the reception may well be one of the best and ecstatic moments in my life, I have grounded myself with what it really is-one big party!

I watched an episode on Oprah about ‘bridezillas’ or engaged ladies who transform into this crazy and obsessed bride-to-bes. She puts the other areas of her life on hold as she buries herself in bridal magazines and sourcebooks. She meets a lot of wedding providers and sometimes, the budget gets out of hand. The wedding turns out grand, but for some of them, depression sets in on day one. The elegant bride who was everybody’s center of attention suddenly feels neglected as the adrenaline rush from all the preparation dies down. Engaged women should strike a balance to better handle their emotions. After all, according to comedian Bernie Mac, “Love is overrated. You really have to like someone to make your marriage last.”